Article of Clothing

ABSTRACT

A clothing article has a waist, a seat, pant legs, foot coverings disposed at the end of the pant legs, each foot covering having a toe, heel, sole and top formed to accept a human foot, the foot covering having a length, and a width varying at different points along the length, an opening in one or more of the toe, heel, sole or top of the foot covering, the opening having a length having a first edge and a second edge, and a width between a third edge and a fourth edge, a first flap of material joined to the foot covering along the third edge and along at least a portion of the first and the second edges, a second flap of material joined along the fourth edge and along the first and the second edges, the second flap of material overlapping the first flap of material.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

The present invention claims priority to co-pending U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/081,447, filed on Nov. 15, 2013, which claims priority toU.S. provisional patent application 61/734,659, entitled “Method andApparatus for Incorporating Booties with Clothing Bottoms”, filed onDec. 7, 2012, disclosures of which are incorporated herein at least byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the field of clothing including sweatpantsand sleepwear and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus forproviding foot coverings with at least one opening for extending thefoot through the covering to the outside.

2. Discussion of the State of the Art

In the field of retail clothing, more particularly sweatpants andsleepwear, pants exist that include foot coverings commonly referred toas booties on the end of the pant legs. Booties completely cover thefoot when wearing such articles of clothing. One problem with thebooties is that under certain circumstances the wearer's feet become toowarm while wearing the article necessitating removal of a portion of orthe entire article of clothing.

Therefore, what is clearly needed is an article of clothing includingbooties or footies that solves the above mentioned problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the invention a clothing article is provided,comprising a waist band, a seat portion, two pant legs, two footcoverings disposed one each at the end of the pant legs, each footcovering having portions including a toe, heel, sole and top formed to ashape to accept a human foot, the foot covering having a length in thedirection from the heel to the toe portion, and a width varying atdifferent points along the length, an opening in one or more of the toe,heel, sole or top of the foot covering, the opening having a lengthsufficient to pass the human foot, the length having a first edge and asecond edge, and a width between a third edge and a fourth edge parallelor conformal, a first flap of material joined to the foot covering alongthe third edge and along at least a portion of the first and the secondedge, the first flap of material overlapping a portion of the opening,and a second flap of material joined to the foot covering along thefourth edge and along at least a portion of the first and the secondedge, the second flap of material overlapping the first flap ofmaterial, leaving a path between the adjacent flaps from inside the footcovering to the outside of the foot covering.

In one embodiment both flaps are of material stretchable in at least thedirection of the width of the opening. Also in one embodiment the firstand the second flaps are conformal to the size of the opening. Also inone embodiment the foot coverings have soles made of resilient material.Also in one embodiment the foot coverings are lined on the inside withSherpa material.

In one embodiment a portion of each pant leg is lined at least partiallywith fleece on the inside. Also in one embodiment the opening isdisposed horizontally across the sole of each foot portion substantiallycentered between the heel and toe of the foot portion. Also in oneembodiment the opening is disposed in the top portion of the footcovering. Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed through thesole portion near the toe portion of the foot covering.

In one embodiment the opening is disposed through the sole portionhorizontally across the heel of the sole portion of each foot covering.Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed along the longitudinalcenterline of the sole between the heel and toe of each foot covering.Also in one embodiment the opening is disposed along one or the otherlengthwise edge of the sole portion of each foot covering. Also in oneembodiment the opening is disposed horizontally across the back of eachfoot covering above the heel. Also in one embodiment the opening in thetop portion is disposed lengthwise in the direction of the length of thesole of the foot covering. And in one embodiment the opening in the topportion is disposed horizontally, orthogonal to the direction of thelength of the sole foot covering.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of an article of clothing according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a foot covering of the article ofclothing of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a foot covering according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a foot covering according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a foot covering according to anotherembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the soles of the foot coverings of FIG. 1according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventor provides an article of clothing, in one embodiment,sweatpants that include foot coverings with openings provided thereinfor the feet to be optionally extended through to the outside. Thepresent invention is described in enabling detail using the followingexamples, which may describe more than one relevant embodiment fallingwithin the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a clothing article 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention. Clothing article 100, in thisembodiment, is a garment commonly referred to as sweatpants in the art.Sweatpants 100 may be fabricated of a durable and soft material such asa cotton blend interwoven with an absorbent heat retention material likefleece. Clothing article 100 includes a waist band 101. Waist band 101may include drawstrings 105. Drawstrings 105 may be utilized to tightenthe clothing article, in this case sweatpants, at the waist. In anotherembodiment waistband 101 is fabricated from an elastic stretchablematerial. In one embodiment sweatpants 100 include a seat or seatportion 102. Seat portion 102 may be reinforced, lined, or padded withsupplemental materials in one embodiment. In another embodiment the seatis fabricated from the same material as the sweatpants.

In one embodiment, sweatpants 100 include a fly 104. Fly 104 may be aflap opening, a zippered opening, or a buttoned opening withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In oneembodiment sweatpants 100 may include one or more pockets (noneillustrated) without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. In one embodiment sweatpants 100 may be attached to a topgarment such as a sweat jacket, wind breaker, or some other top garment.Mechanisms of attaching sweatpants to a garment top piece might includehook and loop, snaps, buttons, hooks, zipper, or the like.

Sweatpants 100 include pant legs 103. Pant legs 103 may include fleecematerial for retaining warmth and absorbing moisture. Each pant legculminates into a foot covering 106. Foot covering 106 is sewn into pantleg 103 in this embodiment. In another embodiment foot covering 106 maybe a contiguous part of the sweatpants material. Foot covering 106completely encloses the wearer's foot. Foot covering 106 may also bereferred to in the art as a bootie or footie.

Foot covering 106 in one embodiment includes an opening 108 provided onthe sole of the foot covering in a direction substantially orthogonal tothe direction of the wearer's foot. In this view only a far end of theopening is visible. Opening 108 is adapted to enable the wearer toextend the foot through the opening to the outside. Opening 108 may beprovided through a resilient stretch material 107 that is used tofabricate the sole of foot covering 106. More detail about opening 108is included later in this specification.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of foot covering 106 of the clothingarticle of FIG. 1. Foot covering 106 is depicted separated fromsweatpants 100 to illustrate more detail. Foot covering 106 is separatedabove the ankle region in this example and depicts a fleece lining 200that may or may not extend into the foot covering to just above orapproximately near the ankle region of the bootie. In this embodiment aportion of foot covering 106 is removed to expose opening 108. The footportion or region of foot covering 106 may, in one embodiment, be linedon the inside with a Sherpa material 201. Sherpa is a commonly usedsynthetic material designed to retain warmth and absorb moisture.

Opening 108 may be a slit opening provided through the sole of footcovering 106, in this case, across the sole of the foot coveringsubstantially orthogonal to the direction of the foot in the bootie.Opening 108 may be a “hidden opening” covered by a flap 203. Opening 108may be held together by a fastening mechanism such as a hook and loopconnection, snaps, zipper, magnetic strip, buttons, or the like, but mayin some embodiments not be fastened. In one embodiment opening 108 isprovided with protective flaps or coverings on both the upper surfaceand bottom surface of the sole of the foot covering. The protectiveflaps may keep foreign material from entering the opening through thebottom of the sole and also may protect fasteners such as snaps orbuttons from direct contact with the floor or ground surface whilewalking with the feet inside the foot coverings.

In one embodiment, the opening 203 is not fastened or otherwise closed.In this embodiment protective flap materials may be provided to coverthe opening. In another embodiment opening 108 may be provided roughlycentered in a Z-cut design provided vertically through the sole of thefoot covering that provides a contiguous flap or stretch material onboth sides of the opening. This configuration may also include a zipperor other fastening mechanism operated from the outside of the footcovering to close the opening. Such a mechanism might be accessible bylifting the flap on the bottom sole. In another embodiment foot covering106 might be detachable from sweatpants 106.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a foot covering 300 according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Foot covering 300 is analogous tofoot covering 106 of FIG. 1 with the exception of the orientation of theopening. Foot covering 300 includes fleece material 200 and Sherpamaterial 201, as well as resilient stretch material 107.

In this embodiment an opening 300 is provided through the sole of footcovering 300 in a direction substantially in line with the foot insertedinto the bootie. In this case opening 300 is covered by material flaps301 a and 301 b. Opening 300 may be of a length sufficient to allow auser to fully extend the foot through the covering to the outside.Opening 300 may be protected on the bottom side of the sole byrubberized flaps or a contiguous flap such as with a Z-cut design placedthrough the sole bottom and enclosing the opening with a flap on thebottom and one on the inside of the sole.

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a foot covering 400 according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Foot covering 400 is analogous indescription to foot coverings described further above with the exceptionof the orientation of the opening. In this embodiment an opening 402 isprovided through the side of foot covering 400 instead of through thesole of the covering as was described further above. In this embodimentopening 401 may be provided on the “left” side or on the “right” side ofthe bootie just above and parallel to the sole of the bootie.

In one embodiment foot covering 400 has two openings, one openingprovided on the “left” side and one opening provided on the “right” sideof the bootie. Opening 401 is protected by a flap 401. In this view theopening flap 401 is visible on the outside surface of the foot covering.The opening may also be protected by a similar flap on the inside of thebootie. In one embodiment the sole portion of foot covering 400 isextended to a portion of the side of the covering in area sufficient tosupport the length of and location of the opening. In this way theopening is still provided through the material comprising the sole ofthe foot covering.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a foot covering 500 according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Foot covering 500 is analogous indescription to foot coverings described further above with the exceptionof the orientation of the opening. In this embodiment an opening 501 isprovided through the top of foot covering 500 instead of through thesole of the covering, or elsewhere as was described further above. Inthis embodiment opening 401 may be oriented across the top, in thedirection of the foot as shown in FIG. 5, or at any other angle. Opening501 is made by slitting the top material of the foot covering for aspecific length, and then sewing a flap defined by sides (a), (b), (c)and (d) to the material of the top of the foot covering along sides (a),(b) and (c), but not (d).

Other areas of the foot covering may also be considered for hosting suchan opening without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. For example, opening 402 could be provided closer to the heelor toe of the foot covering. Opening 402 might be provided across theback portion of the foot covering above the heel of the bootie. Opening402 may be provided across the top surface of the bootie in line with ororthogonal to the line of the foot inserted into the bootie.

FIG. 6 is an elevation view of soles 600 of foot coverings of FIG. 1according to an embodiment of the present invention. Soles 600 areanalogous to soles fabricated from a resilient stretchable materialreferred to in FIG. 1 as material 107. In this embodiment the openingsare hidden and are therefore not illustrated in this depiction.

Soles 600 may be printed or otherwise treated with one or moreapplications of a three dimensional rubberized ink 601 known as “Puff”ink in the art. Puff ink expands when heated to provide a threedimensional surface. In this example Puff ink 601 is applied accordingto a tread pattern over resilient sole material 602. The tread patternmight be a standard pattern tied to a specific version or batch offabricated product where a next batch may include a different treadpattern. In one embodiment tread patterns might be patterns selected byuser who order the sweatpants. In another embodiment a customer maycreate a unique (personalized) tread pattern through a graphicsinterface at the time of order of the product.

In one embodiment the tread pattern includes a word, symbol, ornumerical indicia, created in mirror fashion so as to be readable bylooking at an imprint of the sole of the bootie made on an imprintableground surface. In one embodiment the tread pattern is unique to a userfor the purpose of leaving a personalized imprint somewhere that mightidentify the wearer to other persons. In one embodiment users who findand photograph foot imprints left by a proprietary or custom treadpattern might produce such images to get discounts on purchases of theproduct. Functionally speaking, the raised tread pattern provides asuperior non-skid surface for walking. The opening, if through the sole,may be hidden by rubberized flaps that may be overprinted with the treadpattern further obscuring the location of the opening in embodimentsutilizing “hidden” openings.

It is noted herein that the openings are described as provided in footcoverings in at least one embodiment for sweatpants. This should not beconstrued as a limitation to the practice of the present invention. Inone embodiment similar openings may be provided in mittens or handcoverings that might be sewn into or otherwise provided with along-sleeved sweat shirt or jacket. In one embodiment sweatpants withopenings in foot coverings and sweat shirt or jackets with openings inhand coverings may be provided and marketed as matching or paired itemsthat might also be marketed separately.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the clothingarticle of the invention may be provided using some or all of thementioned features and components without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention. It will also be apparent to the skilledartisan that the embodiments described above are specific examples of asingle broader invention that may have greater scope than any of thesingular descriptions taught. There may be many alterations made in thedescriptions without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A clothing article comprising: a waist band; aseat portion; two pant legs; two foot coverings disposed one each at theend of the pant legs, each foot covering having portions including atoe, heel, sole and top formed to a shape to accept a human foot, thefoot covering having a length in the direction from the heel to the toeportion, and a width varying at different points along the length; anopening in one or more of the toe, heel, sole or top of the footcovering, the opening having a length sufficient to pass the human foot,the length having a first edge and a second edge, and a width between athird edge and a fourth edge parallel or conformal; a first flap ofmaterial joined to the foot covering along the third edge and along atleast a portion of the first and the second edge, the first flap ofmaterial overlapping a portion of the opening; and a second flap ofmaterial joined to the foot covering along the fourth edge and along atleast a portion of the first and the second edge, the second flap ofmaterial overlapping the first flap of material, leaving a path betweenthe adjacent flaps from inside the foot covering to the outside of thefoot covering.
 2. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein both flaps areof material stretchable in at least the direction of the width of theopening.
 3. The clothing article o claim 1 wherein the first and thesecond flaps are conformal to the size of the opening.
 4. The clothingarticle of claim 1 wherein the foot coverings have soles made ofresilient material.
 5. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein the footcoverings are lined on the inside with Sherpa material.
 6. The clothingarticle of claim 1 wherein a portion of each pant leg is lined at leastpartially with fleece on the inside.
 7. The clothing article of claim 1wherein the opening is disposed horizontally across the sole of eachfoot portion substantially centered between the heel and toe of the footportion.
 8. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein the opening isdisposed in the top portion of the foot covering.
 9. The clothingarticle of claim 1 wherein the opening is disposed through the soleportion near the toe portion of the foot covering.
 10. The clothingarticle of claim 1 wherein the opening is disposed through the soleportion horizontally across the heel of the sole portion of each footcovering.
 11. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein the opening isdisposed along the longitudinal centerline of the sole between the heeland toe of each foot covering.
 12. The clothing article of claim 1wherein the opening is disposed along one or the other lengthwise edgeof the sole portion of each foot covering.
 13. The clothing article ofclaim 1 wherein the opening is disposed horizontally across the back ofeach foot covering above the heel.
 14. The clothing article of claim 8wherein the opening in the top portion is disposed lengthwise in thedirection of the length of the sole of the foot covering.
 15. Theclothing article of claim 8 wherein the opening in the top portion isdisposed horizontally, orthogonal to the direction of the length of thesole foot covering.